The Association of Major Symphony Orchestra Volunteers AMSOV

AMSOV's latest webinar was on October 15

Thank you for attending our AMSOV Webinar on Social Media Made Simple, which we held on October 15, 2025. Our speaker was social media professional Maggie Glenski, pictured at right.

If you missed our webinar and wish to access the hour-long recording, please send an email to our President, Don Dagenais, at president@amsov.org and he can share the video recording with you.

Mark your Calendar for the AMSOV Conference in Toronto, Vancouver, Canada

May 14-17, 2026

Canada, here we come!

AMSOV will hold its next Biennial Conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada May 14-17, 2026. You will be hearing more about the Conference soon.

Conference Chair Debra Walker and her Conference committee are busily working to create the best AMSOV Conference yet! The Conference will be chock full of informative content that you will enjoy taking back to your home group to help your volunteers be as effective as they can be for your symphony orchestras.

The Conference will also be loads of fun, with interesting activities throughout and an opportunity to experience the joys and delights of this remarkable city. Also, of course, you will be attending a concert by the internationally renowned Toronto Symphony Orchestra performing at the Roy Thomson Hall, pictured above.

The concert on May 16 will feature the premiere of a new cello concerto by composer Jesse Montgomery as well as music from Wagner: the overture from The Flying Dutchman and excerpts from the culminating opera of his famous Ring cycle, Gotterdammerung. The conductor is Gustavo Gimeno, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's music director. Earlier this year Maestro Gimeno was invested as a Commander of the Order of Civil Merit, bestowed by his Majesty King Felipe VI of Spain.

The Conference registration form will be available on this website within the next month or two, so watch your email for a notification on how you can register. We plan to see you there!

AMSOV Remembers Juanita Jackson

AMSOV regrets to advise you of the death of one of its beloved former presidents, Juanita W. Jackson. Juanita was the President of AMSOV from 2003-2005.

Juanita was from Chautauqua, New York, and was active since childhood in the legendary Chautauqua Institution, a celebration of arts, culture and literature. She held undergraduate and graduate degrees from Miami of Ohio University and spent a career in education in Cincinnati and in Potomac, Maryland in the Washington, D.C. area. She also taught in Wilmington, Massachusetts. She was responsible for a system-wide reading program for the Cincinnati Public School System. She managed a business development center for women and minority students for the Albany, New York Chamber of Commerce and for the State University of New York (SUNY).

Juanita was also a classically-trained singer. She performed an extensive repertoire of operatic and classical music and performed in summer stock theater. She created a narrated program of spiritual and African-American poetry that was presented in Chautauqua, Jamestown and other venues.

She spent much of her life as a “professional volunteer” supporting many different symphony orchestras among other organizations. Among them were the National Symphony Orchestra Women’s Committee. It was during those years that she served as the chair of the 2003 AMSOV Conference in Washington, and then as President of AMSOV.

She died at the age of 93.

AMSOV salutes her memory and honors her legacy as an historic leader of our organization.

WHY JOIN AMSOV?

The opportunity to meet in concentrated effort with Symphony volunteers from across North America has been a complete pleasure. I left this past conference in Kansas City with many intriguing ideas to share with my Board and a number of action points to accomplish. Membership in AMSOV is essential as we all seek to support our orchestras in the most effective ways. Many thanks to my Kansas City colleagues who showed the rest us us a wonderful time at the recent conference.

Nancy L.

Dallas

I am honored to have been involved in AMSOV as the organization’s treasurer. AMSOV is a great volunteer led organization with a diverse and talented board, there is nothing like it for supporting and increasing the knowledge of symphony volunteers. The Kansas City Conference was my first AMSOV Conference experience, and what an awesome experience it was. I learned so much to take back to my Seattle Symphony volunteer organization. I’m very much looking forward to continuing my learning and networking at the Toronto Conference in 2026.

Jeff H.

Seattle

I have attended three AMSOV conferences and I have come away from each conference so much richer in various ways. Not only is it a great opportunity to meet new fellow music lovers, but also to forge new friendships and learn from one another. One big eye opener at the most recent Kansas City conference was to learn that it is possible to have volunteer organizations support symphony orchestras without actually playing a fundraising role. I also enjoy tremendously the presentations and discussions by panelists consisting of professionals at the highest levels in the symphony orchestra music world. All in all, it is amazing to see what groups of volunteers can accomplish.

Rose G.

Dallas

The best thing about AMSOV are all the friendships that I have developed along the way. As volunteers, when we share and work together using our unique proficiencies and experiences, the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts. I am indebted to AMSOV for all the

one-of-a-kind experiences that I have had visiting symphony volunteer organizations in the United States and Canada and the opportunity to attend outstanding performances of their symphonies.

Mike M.

Kansas City

In the 20+ years that I have been a member of AMSOV, I have greatly appreciated how the organization supports and champions North America’s major symphony orchestra volunteer groups. Its conferences, website and email newsletters inform groups about orchestral activity and developments. The conferences provide educational sessions from renowned speakers on innovation, advocacy, projects and fundraising, and leadership advancement. Friendships with the volunteer groups have been formed and sustained through the many years. I am excited to go to Kansas City in 2024 to greet longtime friends and make new friendships from the member orchestras.

Deborah B.

Dallas

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MEMBERSHIP OR TO JOIN, CLICK HERE.